Glock 45 or 21 Gen4 for large fanny-pack carry?

A

AlongCameJones

Moderator
The dillema.

Ammo costs: 45 ACP FMJ is cheaper than 9mm JHP.

The time-honored old American .45 ACP fodder has less of a chance of running out of stock on shelves. 9mm JHP is expensive and has trouble staying on shelves.

Sometimes it makes sense to choose a defensive handgun based on ammo availabilty and prices.

Bigger, heavier .45 ACP gun, maybe more kick but cheaper ammo, round per round.

The 21 is a bit longer and heavier. Which recoils more, the heavier .45 ACP or the lighter 9 mm Glock pistol?

Cheaper FMJ bullets are fine for defense with .45 ACP because of the wide frontal area. The smaller 9mm caliber needs expensive jacketed-hollowpoint bullets to give "45-like" frontal area stopping power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-wcOYqGqJg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYAnhDE46BE&t=490s
 
AlongCameJones said:
Cheaper FMJ bullets are fine for defense with .45 ACP because of the wide frontal area. The smaller 9mm caliber needs expensive jacketed-hollowpoint bullets to give "45-like" frontal area stopping power.
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Well now I know.
 
A 21 Gen4 holds 13 rounds while a Glock 45 holds 17 rounds. I'm in Oklahoma and have no mag cap restrictions here.

Does anybody here own either a Glock .45 ACP or a Glock 9mm or both?


Furthermore, Glocks are criticized for having no thumb safety. Mine would live inside my closed fanny pack with a nylon webbing covering the trigger guard. Kinda hard to accidentally pull the trigger zipped up inside there.
 
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Go with the 9mm only because it seems it will force you to use proper defensive ammo.

Also at least use a small kydex trigger guard “cover/holster” thing. A Fanny pack is too easy to deform and could easily do so enough to pull the trigger.
 
My fanny pack has the elastic webbing already to hold the gun. The kydex trigger guard is too bulky to allow the gun to fit in the webbing which is snug. There is no way in the devil any fanny pack will deform enough to trip a trigger which is already surrounded by the gun's trigger guard anyway. The Glock has the Safe Action flipper in the middle of the trigger anyway. Doesn't a Glock usually have at least six pounds of pull?

Is one round of 9mm JHP even more effective than one round of .45 ACP FMJ?

The idea is to get the cheapest ammo that will work decently for defense depending upion which caliber is chosen. If I buy that pricey 9mm defensive ammo, I will be discouraged from practicing much at the range due to costs. I'm on a budget.

Both .45 and 9mm have advantages and disadvantages.

A stock picture of my fanny pack model with a government model in it.
 

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If I buy that pricey 9mm defensive ammo, I will be discouraged from practicing much at the range due to costs. I'm on a budget.
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Why do you feel like all your practice has to happen using defensive ammunition?

Most folks shoot enough of their defensive ammunition through their gun to verify proper operation and then practice with practice ammunition. That's why they make practice ammunition and call it 'practice ammunition'. ;)
The time-honored old American .45 ACP fodder has less of a chance of running out of stock on shelves. 9mm JHP is expensive and has trouble staying on shelves.
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What I saw around here during the shortages was that the last thing to sell out was the self-defense stuff. What disappeared the fastest was the cheap practice ammo.
 
That nylon covering the trigger guard is what is going to get caught on the trigger. Not sure I would carry a Glock in that rig but that's just me. You do you.
 
A few comments,

A fanny pack just SCREAMS " I am carrying a gun"
as noted above, I would not carry a glock in a rig like that, you are just asking for an AD
 
I carry a Smith & Wesson 5-shot 642-2 Airweight revolver in that same rig already. This model is double-action only with no exposed hammer. I want a sidearm with more capacity that still fits that rig well. The Smith is a .38 Special + P.
 
Either pistol is a decent choice for carry, I really like my 21SF.
Why is it being carried in a fanny pack? Yoga pants? Gym shorts?
For shorts or pants with a belt, a untucked shirt covering holstered pistol is preferable to fanny pack, IMO.
 
With a trigger that light, one has to be damn careful when drawing so as not to accidentally hit the trigger with one's finger. The trigger guard webbing inside the pack automatically keeps the trigger finger off the trigger and extended forward while drawing. Of course a cocked-and-locked Govt. Model concealed-carried will have the thumb safety on.

There is no way the friction of the elastic nylon webbing is going to depress even a 5 pound trigger with a safety flipper in the middle of the trigger while the handgun is being holstered slowly and carefully. The webbing could only touch the edge of the trigger if at all. Suffice it to say, the barrel will always be pointed in a safe direction while holstering. No 5-pound trigger is going to "float back" on its own. The Safe Action mechanism keeps the firing pin blocked until the trigger is PURPOSELY pulled. I repeat, PURPOSELY pulled.
 
The trigger guard webbing inside the pack automatically keeps the trigger finger off the trigger and extended forward while drawing.
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That statement is true of a rigid leather or plastic holster. Not so much with elastic webbing. Floppy material from a holster getting caught in front of the trigger while holstering is a real issue that has caused a few NDs through the years.
 
The Safety-T-Block may not pop out if not pushed out hard enough. It might also be forgotten about when drawing and that could prove deadly when facing a bad guy. With a double-action revolver, there is nothing to remember to take off when drawing. But a thumb safety can be still more easily mastered than that Safe-T-Block thing.

Glock wanted their auto to be as simple to shoot as a DA-only revolver.
 
I think I'll get Glock 45 in 9mm and the pricey defense ammo. I will fire a mag full of that pricey stuff at the range to make sure the gun shoots, clean the gun, reload it, stow it in my fanny pack securely and forget it. I want to try to find one at a LGS first to feel one out.
 
FMJ loads in either 45 or 9mm are effective roughly 2/3 of the time in SD situations. There is no significant advantage to 45 and there has never been any measurable difference. The US military determined this in extensive testing in 1946 after WW-2 ended. Yet the myth remains.

Modern HP loads in both 45 and 9mm are effective 85-95% of the time depending on the load. Once again there is no measurable difference.

I have, and carry both 45 and 9mm depending on my mood, sometimes 10mm. I shoot some of the 45's better than some of the 9mm's and sometimes I choose the 45 for that reason. Other times the extra mag capacity of 9mm is more important to me.

I choose FMJ in either for practice. A box of pricey JHP loads in either will last a long time.

Instead of a fanny pack I like this for a bigger gun.

https://www.hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/1
 
I'm not familiar with fanny pack carry but I have to wonder, why are you only considering the G45 and G21? The G45 isn't small and the G21 is quite big. Seems like a G19 would be a better option, still get good capacity with a shorter grip which should fit better, I guess. Why not a G26? It still holds 11rds, 13rds with the +2 extension and will fit a fanny pack much better. Why not a G43X or G48? ON the .45 side, why not a G30? Capacity isn't as good but you'd still have 11rds of .45 which is way better than 5rds of 38 Special. Maybe your fanny pack is huge, I don't know.

It seems to me you picked these based on looking at them online and don't have any experience with either. I've had both and they're great guns but still seem pretty large to pack around in a fanny whatchamacallit.
 
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